Born in Amoy, China in 1912, Lim Cheng Hoe came to Singapore when he was 7. Primarily a self-taught artist, Lim studied art under Richard Walker, Singapore’s first Art Inspector of Schools, at the Raffles Institution in the early 1930s. Lim was a prominent and significant first generation artist due to his treatment of the local landscape in the watercolour medium and is associated with the Nanyang Style. He was also a founding member of the Singapore Watercolour Society. Lim passed away in 1979 in Singapore.Mr. T.Y. Choy, a dedicated school teacher as well as an accomplished watercolourist, often joined Lim and other members of the Singapore Watercolour Society on their outdoor painting sessions. Under Lim’s keen eye for observation, Choy’s spare frame and resolute gaze are captured with deft translucent glazes applied with the barest economy of brush strokes.
